What is Malpractice?
Malpractice is, “Any professional misconduct, unreasonable lack of skill or fidelity in professional or fiduciary duties, evil practice, or illegal or immoral conduct.” (Black’s Law Dictionary 1111. 4th Ed. Rev. 1968). It refers to negligence or misconduct by a professional that eventually leads to a client or patient being injured or damaged.
Malpractice is commonly referenced in the medical sense. However, malpractice exists in other professions such as accounting and law. Medical malpractice may involve a doctor giving the wrong diagnosis or botching a surgery, resulting in direct harm. Legal malpractice could involve a lawyer mishandling a case due to incompetence or neglect, resulting in their client losing out on financial gains or wrongfully spending time in prison.
Malpractice cases are usually resolved with legal proceedings where the plaintiff seeks monetary compensation from the accused professional. They depend on the proof that the plaintiff was not only harmed, but that the malpractice by the professional was the direct cause. This process is meant to hold professionals accountable for their actions, and protect innocent individuals from the consequences of negligence and misconduct. In cases where professionals are found to commit malpractice, such as Gregory v. McInnis et al, they are often restricted from practicing in that specific field again.
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Car Accident Round-Up – Three Dead, Four Injured in VA Head-On Collision
Jeep Cherokee crosses center line, causes head-on car accident
VA Accident Kills Three, Injures Four
According to the Roanoke Times, a Jeep Cherokee carrying four people crashed head-on into a Plymouth van carrying three people Saturday afternoon in Bedford, VA leaving three people dead and four injured. The Jeep was heading eastbound on Virginia 24 when it crossed the center line striking the westbound van. The driver and front passenger of the Jeep died; the other two passengers were air lifted to a nearby hospital. The front passenger of the van died; the driver and another passenger were taken to a local hospital.
Fatal Accident in FL on I-95
First Coast News reports an early morning accident on Wednesday closed down northbound lanes on I-95 near US 1 and SR 206 in St. Johns County, Florida. Although details are unclear, apparently a pickup truck flipped several times after crashing into another vehicle. […]
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Pennsylvania Hospital to Pay $2.2 Million in Birth Injury Lawsuit
UPMC Hamot and several of its doctors have settled a lawsuit filed in 2008 against a woman alleging a “botched” delivery resulted in cerebral palsy and other medical problems for her child. The childbirth was in 1998.
The woman went to the hospital in February 1998, after going into labor two months prematurely. The lawsuit claims the medical staff failed to respond appropriately to indications that the fetus was in distress. Neither the hospital nor the doctors admitted any wrongdoing.
The child will not be able to live independently and suffers from cognitive impairment, seizures and motor and language delay.
According to The Erie Times-News, the tax-free $2.2 million will be placed in a special-needs trust and paid out over time to cover the costs of the child’s medical care over her lifetime.
About Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys
Munley Law is a Pennsylvania accident and injury law firm that represents car accident victims and their families throughout the state of Pennsylvania and the Northeast, […]
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Car Accident Round-Up – One Dead, Five Injured in Multi-Vehicle Crash in FL
Out-of-control vehicle spins into oncoming lane colliding with two other vehicles in fatal accident
FL Accident Kills One, Leaves Five Critically Injured
A multi-vehicle crash over the weekend in Frostproof, Florida left one person dead and five others critically injured. The Miami Herald reports that a vehicle on U.S. 27 northbound ran off the roadway, overcorrected and spun around sending it into the southbound lanes where it collided with two other vehicles. The driver of the out-of-control vehicle died; her two passengers were taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. Three occupants of the other vehicles were listed in critical condition. Police were continuing to investigate the accident.
Heart Attack Kills Driver of Rock Band Bus in Iowa
According to the Ames Tribune, the driver of the charter bus for the rock band Widespread Panic apparently suffered a heart attack while driving the bus on Interstate 35 last week south of Ames, […]
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Car Accident Round-Up – Five Die in Fiery Michigan Accident
Both cars catch fire in wrong way car crash killing all five involved
MI Accident Kills Five in Wrong-Way Collision
In a tragic, fiery crash in Detroit, MI early Sunday morning, five people died when a driver traveling the wrong-way on the M-10 crashed head-on into another vehicle. An SUV carrying four people and a passenger car, with just the driver in the car, slammed into each other causing both cars to erupt into flames killing the occupants of both vehicles. Police are unsure of the cause of the accident and do not know which car was traveling the wrong way. The northbound lanes of the highway were shut down for nearly six hours.
Two Die in Multi-Vehicle FL Accident
NorthEscambia.com reports that a Friday morning accident on I-10 near Pensacola, FL took the lives of one adult and a child. […]
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Family of Injured Kentucky Nursing Home Patient to Receive $1 Million Settlement
According to an article in the Lexington-Herald Leader, a Fayette, Kentucky Circuit Court jury awarded the family of a nursing home patient $1 million for negligence resulting from a January 2009 incident. The Alzheimer’s patient, in her late 80s, at Lexington’s Cambridge Place Nursing Home suffered extensive injuries in a fall after she went missing from her room.
The lawsuit alleged the woman suffered broken bones in her face, bleeding in her brain, and a serious cut on her forehead, and various other injuries, after she fell from her Merry Walker, a walker that includes a seat, and was later found severely injured in an equipment storage room.
The case was previously reviewed by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services and the attorney general’s office. An adult-protection worker found that the woman was a “victim of caretaker neglect and had been exposed to an extreme safety risk.” […]
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Car Accident Round-Up – Motorcyclists Die in Florida Accident
Motorcyclist and passenger die after being hit from behind and thrown into traffic
FL Motorcyclist and Passenger Die in Multi-Vehicle Accident
Both the driver of a motorcycle and his passenger died when a Ford Explorer struck the cycle from behind on I-4 near mile marker 122 in DeLand, Florida early Sunday morning. The Sun-Sentinel reports both occupants were thrown from the motorcycle and were run over by approaching vehicles who could not avoid the wreckage. A third vehicle swerved and hit a tree leading to a fire. The driver of the Explorer fled the scene of the crash; however, police have identified a woman who is a person of interest.
Teenager Dies in KY Roll-Over Accident
A Monday afternoon car accident in Nelson County, KY, claimed the life of one teenager and sent two more to the hospital. The 17-year-old driver apparently lost control of her car as she was heading east on Old Bloomfield Road. […]
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Ohio Family Awarded $4.2 Million in Medical Malpractice Lawsuit
The family of an Ohio woman who died of a heart attack after being treated at Wheeling Hospital (WV) in 2009 has been awarded $4.2 million by an Ohio County jury. The lawsuit was filed against Dr. Stephen Heirendt and EMPG of West Virginia, Inc.
The woman went to Wheeling Hospital, complaining of chest pains, where she was treated by Heirendt. The suit claimed that the doctor did not follow appropriate standards of care, ultimately leading to her heart attack 11 days later. The woman was 43-years-old.
The family was awarded $1.5 million for sorrow and mental anguish, $1.5 million for loss of services, $300,000 for loss of household services and $872,000 in lost wages.
If you or a loved one has been harmed by a form of medical negligence, you may have a medical malpractice claim. Our attorneys at Munley Law are experienced and successful medical malpractice litigators and we fight to protect the rights of patients. […]
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Pennsylvania Woman Awarded $23 Million in Medical Malpractice Case
WFMZ-TV reports a Lehigh County, Pennsylvania jury has awarded a Lehighton woman $23 million in a medical malpractice case. The woman had both legs amputated after her home care nurse failed to evaluate and report an infected catheter for appropriate treatment.
The lawsuit alleged the delay in reporting the infection led to a bloodstream infection that ultimately required the woman’s legs to be amputated below the knees.
The jury found the nurse and her employer, St. Luke’s Miners Memorial Home Care, negligent in caring for the plaintiff.
A spokesman for St. Luke’s said, “As with all malpractice cases, this is a complicated situation, but the resultant jury award is excessive and shocks the conscience.” The spokesman did not indicate if they would appeal the verdict.
If you or a loved one has been harmed by a form of medical negligence, […]
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North Carolina Physician’s Assistant Found Negligent in Mother’s Death
A physician’s assistant (PA) was found negligent in the death of a 42-year-old woman from congestive heart failure less than two months after giving birth to twins at The McDowell Hospital in Marion, NC. The lawsuit was brought by the husband who claimed the defendants did not do all they could to save the life of his wife.
The man will be awarded $667,000 in the case where he was seeking $6.8 million. The suit was filed against seven doctors, one physician’s assistant, Asheville Radiology, The McDowell Hospital and McDowell Emergency Physicians. Most of the defendants settled out of court, however, two doctors, the PA and McDowell Emergency Physicians took the case to court.
The woman was diagnosed with pneumonia after giving birth in February, 2008, and was prescribed a medication for treatment upon her discharge. Suffering from shortness of breath and nausea, the woman returned to the emergency room several times within the following weeks and was again treated for pneumonia. […]
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Iowa to Pay $875K After Hospital Error Resulted in Amputation of Leg
The Des Moines Register reports that the state of Iowa has settled a lawsuit filed against the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics after a young girl went to the hospital in 2007 for a stomach surgery, and had to have her leg amputated after she developed compartment syndrome.
The state will pay $875,000 to the now 16-year-old girl who had her right leg amputated and her left leg now suffers a permanent foot drop. The suit alleged that the girl’s legs were elevated for over 10 hours causing increased pressure to build in her leg muscle compartments, leading to muscle and nerve damage.
The hospital is overseen by the Iowa Board of Regents and the State Appeals Board had to approve the settlement.
If you or a loved one has been harmed by a form of medical negligence, you may have a medical malpractice claim. […]
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Lawsuit Settles for $650K After Sponge Left in Patient
The Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Florida paid $650,000 to settle a lawsuit against a man with a “retained foreign object and medication error.” The man also reached a confidential settlement against two radiologists.
The now 68-year-old man was admitted to the hospital in October 2009 to undergo surgery for diverticulitis. His recovery was slow, and after five months he was in more pain than prior to his surgery. He went back to the doctor and had several X-rays and CT scans before the surgeon and gastrointestinal doctor found a surgical sponge in his stomach that had been left behind during surgery.
The man declined further treatment at Good Samaritan and went to another hospital to have the sponge removed and a portion of his intestines, due to perforation. The man also received an incorrect dosage of blood pressure medicine, however, he did not have any lasting issues over that error. […]
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Colorado Medical Malpractice Suit Against Nurses Settled
Undocumented immigrant receives $700,000 in medical malpractice suit settlement
The Colorado Springs, city-owned Memorial Health System settled a lawsuit filed by an undocumented immigrant from Mexico who claimed her baby suffered severe brain injuries during delivery four years ago. The now four-year-old is a spastic quadriplegic who cannot stand, sit or walk, and has the intellectual level of a six-month-old.
The city paid $700,000 to the child because the care provided by the Memorial nurses and the doctor “fell below the standard of care” by failing to properly interpret fetal heart monitoring strips that showed the baby in distress during labor, having the mother hold her breath which further depleted the oxygen going to the baby and delivering the baby vaginally rather than performing a cesarean section.
The lawsuit only covered the negligence by the nurses. The doctor is employed by Peak Vista Community Health Centers which is a Federally Qualified Health Center. […]
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$1.25 Million Awarded After Surgeon Was Found Negligent
Surgeon found negligent in botched procedure
A 67-year-old Ithaca, New York woman was awarded $1.25 million after her surgeon was found negligent when a 2007 gallbladder operation left her gravely ill and fighting for her life. The surgeon at Cayuga Medical Center had been practicing for over 15 years when found at fault.
The woman entered the hospital complaining of an upset stomach when she was told her gallbladder needed to be removed. The woman’s bowel was unintentionally cut during surgery, yet the surgeon did not inspect the bowel for injury prior to completing the surgical procedure.
Almost immediately the woman became severely ill, exhibiting multiple signs of infection. 32 hours after the first operation, she was operated on again to find the source of the infection, and then to repair the injured bowel. The woman also underwent four more surgeries, needed a ventilator, […]
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Widow Awarded $6.7 Million in Medical Malpractice Case
The widow of a man who died in 2005 after an ATV accident was awarded $6.7 million by a Maine jury in a medical malpractice case against Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. The man was flown to the center after the accident, and according to the lawsuit, the doctors failed to follow up on tests indicating internal bleeding, that ultimately led to the man’s death.
The man arrived at the hospital suffering from several broken ribs, among other injuries, and CT scans ordered by the emergency department physician indicated there was also internal bleeding. The doctors caring for the man failed to follow up on the internal bleeding by not issuing an order for X-rays to monitor the bleeding, according to the suit. Three days later, the internal bleeding caused one of the man’s lungs to collapse, and the lack of oxygen precipitated a massive fatal heart attack. […]
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$400,000 Awarded In Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Lawsuit
A Northampton woman has been awarded $400,000 in her malpractice suit against a Bethlehem doctor who did not diagnose her breast cancer properly. The jury found Dr. Mark Schadt negligent in his care of the woman.
In April 2004 she found two lumps in her breasts, and in May Dr. Schadt performed a fine-needle aspiration biopsy and the results were negative for breast cancer. In March 2005 the patient had a second fine-needle biopsy and the results were positive. A month later, after having an excisional biopsy, she was told she had invasive carcinoma stage III cancer. She had a radical mastectomy on the cancerous right breast and a simple mastectomy on her left breast.
The lawsuit alleged Dr. Shadt should have followed the first biopsy with a complete biopsy that would have removed a larger tissue sample to test.
If you or a loved one has been harmed by a form of medical negligence, […]
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$2.5 Million Awarded for Failure to Diagnose Colon Cancer
A Virgo County, Indiana jury has awarded $2.5 million to a now 42-year-old former police officer whose doctor failed to diagnose his colon cancer in 2004. The Tribune Star reports the lawsuit was filed against Dr. John Morse of AP&S Clinic in Terre Haute, Indiana in January 2009.
At 35 years old, the man went to the doctor with rectal bleeding and complaints of other gastric discomforts. Neither a sigmoidoscopy nor colonoscopy was done to rule out colon cancer. An upper G.I. test was done because of other problems the patient reported. After moving to another state and consulting a different doctor in 2006, he was diagnosed with Stage 4 incurable colon cancer. He has been given less than a year to live.
Under Indiana’s statutory limit, the award will be reduced to $1.25 million.
Our experienced lawyers know that medical errors are responsible for between 44,000 and 98,000 wrongful deaths every year in American hospitals. […]
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New Hampshire Woman Sues Hospital & Doctors for $5 Million
A woman formerly from New Hampshire is suing two doctors and St. Joseph’s Hospital in Nashua for $5 million alleging they failed to diagnose and treat her bacterial meningitis which left her permanently disabled, reports The Telegraph.
On January 10, 2008, the woman went to the emergency room after suffering for three days with vomiting, headache and fever. She was treated for an ear infection and sent home. With worsening symptoms, she returned to the hospital two days later. The second time she also had hearing loss, altered mental state, and difficulties walking. Her lawsuit states even though a CT scan and other tests suggested something serious was wrong, the doctor diagnosed her with stress and a sinus infection and sent her home.
She returned to the hospital two more times before she was given a spinal tap which showed she was suffering from two life-threatening conditions. […]
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Pennsylvania’s Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys Ranked Among America’s Best Law Firms
Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys, a prominent Pennsylvania personal injury law firm with more than 40 years of experience, has won a coveted place on a list of the nation’s best law firms, published in September jointly by U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers magazine. “To make this highly competitive list is an honor and a reward for years of intensive and quality work by our lawyers on behalf of our clients,” said Robert W. Munley, the founding partner of the firm.
The rankings are presented in tiers both nationally and by metropolitan area or by state, and they showcase 8,782 different law firms ranked in one or more of 81 major practice areas. Peer surveys combined with more than 3.1 million evaluations of individual lawyers in the most recent Best Lawyers survey of leading lawyers are used to develop the rankings.
“U.S. […]
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$2.6M Medical Malpractice Verdict In Bethlehem
Doctor at fault for cancer misdiagnosis
Cancer is one of the most common causes of death in the United States, and failure to properly diagnose this disease can be devastating – even fatal – to the patient. When this happens, it may result in a medical malpractice charge against the healthcare givers.
A ruling by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ended a two-and-a-half year journey through the state courts for a $2.6 million medical malpractice verdict against St. Luke’s Hospital & Health Network and one of its gynecologists.
The case was filed in Lehigh County; the plaintiff alleged that her doctor breached the standard of care when he did not advise her to have a biopsy on what turned out to be a cancerous lump in one of her breasts.
Our attorneys have decades of experience handling complex medical malpractice cases. […]
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$3.5 Million Awarded In Lawsuit Over Botched Surgery
The Baltimore Sun reports a 53-year-old woman has won $3.5 million in her medical malpractice suit against Vascular Surgery Associates and two of its surgeons following a botched surgery.
In 2007 the woman’s surgery for blocked arteries ended in devastating injuries including damage to her spinal cord which left her a paraplegic. The lawsuit claimed the doctor used an improper grafting technique which led to various injuries including blood loss, and paralysis.
The award included $1.3 million in noneconomic damages, $2 million for future medical bills, and more than $200,000 for prior medical bills.
Our medical malpractice lawyers have decades of experience handling complex cases involving medical errors, misdiagnoses, and hospital infections. We will evaluate your case thoroughly and explore all potential sources of recovery – we fight to protect the rights of patients. If you or a loved one has been harmed by medical negligence, […]
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